Bellato Federation
The Bellato Federation is the government of one of three playable races in RF Online. Citizens of the Federation, referred to as Bellateans, are the most balanced of the races in terms of power, combining their Force control and technological progress to achieve their ends, as opposed to the deity worshipping Corites or machine-driven Accretians. Overview Due to the intense gravity on their home planet, the Bellatean people are the smallest out of all the races. They are mostly inventors who can combine creative tools and weapons with the Light form of universal Force, opposite of the the Cora possessing the Dark form of it). As such, Bellateans possess an equilibrium between their technology and their inherited force control. Bellateans enter the war as the least physically capable of the three races, yet given their ingenuity they have the potential to become the strongest through brainpower and creation alone. Before they became the Bellato Federation, however, they were the Bellato Empire, who seized control after the Cora Civil War, but were bested by the Accretians. Under such pressure, they fell from power, yet they have bided their time until they became a force to be reckoned with once again, now on the battlefront of the Novus Colonization. History Mechanized equipment was initially produced for use in scientific progression, and was mostly used on construction sites in the past, being military purposes left behind or relatively undeveloped. As the technology progressed, more diverse types of mechanized equipment were mass-produced, and as the armor unit became more established, it was placed into live battle zones for field testing. The early battles featuring the armoured units saw some impressive victories for the federation. This led to the national defense expenditure increasing, with the Bellatean army gearing towards producing more of the armor units. However, in the course of the Novus War, the armor units' previous criminal records, coupled with a series of defeats in battle to the Accretian launcher units, saw the reputation of the unit's effectiveness within the army weakened. These defeats were largely to blame on the units' design, which was not efficient on the geographical structure of Novus. After the manufacturing rights were handed over to civilian contractors, more accustomed to the planet, the armor units were redesigned to eliminate previous design flaws and for better compatibility with the Novus warzones. As the reliability of the armor units dropped due to the huge operational costs involved, the federations' peace committee decided to close down the armor unit assembly. The armored units can be divided into two types: the MAUs, constructed as a field unit to assist foot troops and assume the role of battle engine, and the other as a siege warfare unit. The siege unit was very complicated to produce and required vast amounts of resources, more than the federation could really sustain. The MAU, in contrast, was better suited for mass production, and for this reason, they are much more made available to the troops. The committee then became unsure as to how to dispose of the units, so they decided that the civilians could purchase and trade the units at a relatively low price. However, due to the MAU's firepower, a law was passed stating that MAU usage would be restricted to military purposes, banning it from the civilian market. Society Bellato society is based on technological progress and commercial development, and as such the people are shaped to that end. Bellateans learned early on that the fastest way to develop technology and profit is for people to be happy. A happy person is a productive person. This is why they have more freedom of expression and a sense of individualism than their rivals. They have long understood that freedom drives minds to think better, rather than oppression. This grants Bellato citizens many of the freedoms and liberties that are usually denied to other races. However, most, if not all of the dominant Bellateans are members of Houses. Houses are congregations of individuals who share the same blood (family ties being taken very seriously by Bellateans) and/or interests (wealth and power being also taken quite seriously by Bellateans). Success breeds success, and while Bellateans promote individual achievement, over the years the same families harvest most of the wealth and power. Influential Bellateans lend money, offer services or help to lesser ones, in exchange for business or other services, and strong ties develop between the two sides, both on a personal and commercial level. Soon enough, a vast network of interests emerges and thus a House is created. Several networks can intertwine, of course, but the core of every one of them is a powerful and identifiable family that will do it's best to keep the relatives, allies, and clients in line with the House’s interests. Government The Bellato Federation is currently deployed as the Bellato forefront in the Novus Colonization. As a race-unique aspect, their Specialists can pilot MAUs, in addition, to create and customize equipment. The Bellato, being experienced traders and merchants, wish to colonize Novus as part of their financial program, which consists of the need to expand to other planets, to colonize and claim resources. To expand to the rest of the universe, the Bellato has to ensure that the Novus Sector doesn't fall under the supremacy of Accretia or Cora by functioning as the middle man in this galactic conflict. This desire to expand and grow often comes at the price of armed conflict against anyone and anything considered an obstacle. As such both the Empire of Accretia and the Holy Cora Alliance are viewed as equally potential threats.